ton

Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Financial, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

ton

(tŭn)

1. A unit of weight equal to 2,000 pounds (0.907 metric ton or 907.18 kilograms). Also called net ton, short ton.

2. A unit of weight equal to 2,240 pounds (1.016 metric tons or 1,016.05 kilograms). Also called long ton.

3. A metric ton. See Table at measurement.

4. A unit of capacity for cargo in maritime shipping, normally estimated at 40 cubic feet.

5. A unit of internal capacity of a ship equal to 100 cubic feet.

6. A unit for measuring the displacement of ships, equal to 35 cubic feet, and supposed to equal the volume taken by a long ton of seawater.

7. often tons Informal

a. A large extent, amount, or number: has a ton of work; gets tons of fan mail.

b. Used adverbially with a or in the plural to mean "to a great degree or extent" or "frequently": felt a ton better; has seen her tons lately.

[Middle English tonne, a measure of weight; see tun.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ton

(tʌn)

1. (Units) Also called: long ton Brit a unit of weight equal to 2240 pounds or 1016.046909 kilograms

2. (Units) Also called: short ton or net ton US a unit of weight equal to 2000 pounds or 907.184 kilograms

3. (Units) Also called: metric ton or tonne a unit of weight equal to 1000 kilograms

4. (Units) Also called: freight ton a unit of volume or weight used for charging or measuring freight in shipping. It depends on the type of material being shipped but is often taken as 40 cubic feet, 1 cubic metre, or 1000 kilograms: freight is charged at £40 per ton of 1 cubic metre.

5. (Units) Also called: measurement ton or shipping ton a unit of volume used in shipping freight, equal to 40 cubic feet, irrespective of the commodity shipped

6. (Units) Also called: displacement ton a unit used for measuring the displacement of a ship, equal to 35 cubic feet of sea water or 2240 pounds

7. (Units) Also called: register ton a unit of internal capacity of ships equal to 100 cubic feet

[C14: variant of tun]

ton

(tɔ̃)

style, fashion, or distinction

[C18: from French, from Latin tonus tone]

ton

(tʌn)

slang chiefly Brit a score or achievement of a hundred, esp a hundred miles per hour, as on a motorcycle

[C20: special use of ton¹ applied to quantities of one hundred]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ton¹

(tʌn)

n.

1. a unit of weight, equivalent to 2000 pounds (0.907 metric ton) avoirdupois (short ton) in the U.S. and 2240 pounds (1.016 metric tons) avoirdupois (long ton) in Great Britain.

2. Also called freight ton . a unit of volume for freight that weighs one ton, varying with the type of freight measured, as 40 cubic feet of oak timber or 20 bushels of wheat.

3. metric ton.

4. displacement ton.

5. a unit of volume used in transportation by sea, commonly equal to 40 cubic feet (1.13 cu. m).

6. a unit of internal capacity of ships, equal to 100 cubic feet (2.83 cu. m) (register ton).

7. Often, tons. a great quantity; a lot: a ton of jokes.

[1350–1400; Middle English; variant of tun]

ton²

(Fr. tôn),
n., pl. tons (Fr. tôn).

1. high fashion; stylishness.

2. the current fashion, style, or vogue.

[1755–65; < French < Latin tonus tone]

-ton

a suffix formerly used to form nouns from adjectives: simpleton; singleton.

[variant of dial. tone one (see tother)]

ton

(tŭn)

1. A unit of weight equal to 2,000 pounds. Also called short ton.

2. A unit of weight equal to 2,240 pounds. Also called long ton. See metric ton.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Ton

a very large amount; a measure of weight (2240 Ib. in the United Kingdom, 2000 Ib. in the United States); also used in the plural, e.g. “tons” of something; people of fashion, collectively, e.g. “the ton,” 1815.

ton

A unit of mass. In the US, 1 ton = 2000 lb. In the UK, 1 ton = 2240 lb. Called a long ton in the US.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	ton - a United States unit of weight equivalent to 2000 pounds net ton, short ton avoirdupois unit - any of the units of the avoirdupois system of weights cental, cwt, short hundredweight, hundredweight, quintal, centner - a United States unit of weight equivalent to 100 pounds kiloton - one thousand tons
	2.	ton - a British unit of weight equivalent to 2240 pounds gross ton, long ton avoirdupois unit - any of the units of the avoirdupois system of weights long hundredweight, cwt, hundredweight - a British unit of weight equivalent to 112 pounds

Translations

حُمولَة طُنطُنطُنّ

tuna

ton=-tonsregisterton

Tonne

τόνος

tonelada

tonnirekisteritonni

tonne tonneau tas

tona

tonnaregisztertonna

tonntonn, rúmlest

tonnellata tonnellata di stazza andare a cento all'ora

トン

톤

tonatonažas

tonna

tona

ton

tongemi ambarı hacmi ölçü birimi

một tấn Anh

吨船只的载重单位

ton

[tʌn] N

1. (= weight) → tonelada f (Brit = 1016.06kg; Can, US etc. = 907.20kg)
metric ton → tonelada f métrica (= 1.000kg)
this cargo weighs 1,000 tons → esta carga pesa 1.000 toneladas
a three-ton lorry → un camión de tres toneladas
to weigh a ton → pesar un quintal
this suitcase weighs a ton → esta maleta pesa un quintal
to come down on sb like a ton of bricks → echar una bronca descomunal a algn

2. tons of sth → montones mpl de algo
we have tons of it at home → en casa lo tenemos a montones
we have tons of time → nos sobra tiempo, tenemos tiempo de sobra

3. (Aut) (= 100mph) → velocidad f de 100 millas por hora
to do a ton → ir a 100 millas por hora

4. (Cricket) (= 100 runs) → cien carreras fpl

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

ton

[ˈtʌn] n

(= unit of weight) → tonne f (Brit: = 1016 kg; US = 907 kg; metric = 1000 kg)

(nautical) (also register ton) → tonneau m (= 2.83 m³)

it weighs a ton (= is very heavy) → peser une tonne
That old bike weighs a ton → Ce vieux vélo pèse une tonne.

tons of → des tonnes de

to come down on sb like a ton of bricks → tomber sur qn comme la misère sur le monde

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

ton

→ (britische) Tonne; she/it weighs a ton (fig inf) → sie/das wiegt ja eine Tonne

tons pl (inf: = lots) → jede Menge (inf); to have tons of time/friends/money etc → jede Menge (inf) → or massenhaft (inf) → Zeit/Freunde/Geld etc haben

(inf, of speed) to do a ton → mit hundertsechzig Sachen fahren (inf)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

ton

[tʌn] n (weight) → tonnellata (Brit =1016 kg; Am =907 kg); (metric ton) → tonnellata (Naut) (also register ton) → tonnellata di stazza (2.83 cu.m; 100 cu.ft) (also displacement ton) → tonnellata inglese
this suitcase weighs a ton (fam) → questa valigia pesa una tonnellata
tons of sth (fam) → un mucchio or sacco di qc

ton

(tan) noun

1. a unit of weight, 2,240 lb, (American) 2,000 lb; a metric ton (also tonne (tan) ) is 2,204.6 lb (1,000 kilogrammes). It weighs a ton and a half; a three-ton weight.

2. a unit of space in a ship (100 cubic feet).

ˈtonnage (-nidʒ) noun

the space available on a ship, measured in tons.

tons noun plural

a lot. I've got tons of letters to write.

ton

→ طُنّ tuna ton Tonne τόνος tonelada tonni tonne tona tonnellata トン 톤 ton tonn tona tonelada тонна ton หน่วยน้ำหนักเท่ากับสองพันสองร้อยสี่สิบปอนด์ ton một tấn Anh 吨

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

Aronnax, an iron vessel costs L145 per ton. Now the Nautilus weighed

View in context

This will give an average (from the above estimates) of 2.7 of a ton for the ten largest herbivorous animals of Southern Africa.

View in context

Reckoning ten barrels to the ton, you have ten tons for the net weight of only three quarters of the stuff of the whale's skin.

View in context

About a ton. But you eat about two hundred pounds of vegetables and two hundred pounds of meat a year--which means you consume one hundred tons of water in the vegetables and one thousand tons in the meat--which means that it takes eleven hundred and one tons of water each year to keep a small woman like you going."

View in context

The Rodman Columbiad threw a shot weighing half a ton a distance of six miles, with a velocity of 800 yards per second-- a result which Armstrong and Palisser have never obtained in England."

View in context

And then the farmer in Maine or California or Texas would buy this, at say twenty-five dollars a ton, and plant it with his corn; and for several days after the operation the fields would have a strong odor, and the farmer and his wagon and the very horses that had hauled it would all have it too.

View in context

As long as you keep her propeller under water and take care, say, not to fling down barrels of oil on top of bales of silk, or deposit an iron bridge-girder of five ton or so upon a bed of coffee-bags, you have done about all in the way of duty that the cry for prompt despatch will allow you to do.

View in context

So he told another courtier to go to the Simpleton with the command that he and his comrades were instantly to eat up twelve oxen and twelve tons of bread.

View in context

She was a screw propeller of eight hundred tons, a fast sailer, and the very vessel that had been sent out to the polar regions, to revictual the last expedition of Sir James Ross.

View in context

That he knew his business his owners were convinced, or at forty he would not have held command of the Tryapsic, three thousand tons net register, with a cargo capacity of nine thousand tons and valued at fifty-thousand pounds.

View in context

"One hundred and forty-nine tons of sand on her tail."

View in context

Under the church of that there parish lie my ancestors--hundreds of 'em--in coats of mail and jewels, in gr't lead coffins weighing tons and tons.

View in context

CITE

Site: Follow: Share:

Open / Close

ton

ton

ton

ton

ton

ton1

ton2

-ton

ton

Ton

ton

ton

ton

ton

ton

ton

ton

ton¹

ton²